From Meghan Markle to Harvey Weinstein: Here are Google's top-searched people of 2017

Actress Meghan Markle announced in December that she is engaged to Prince Harry. The couple is planning to marry next year.WPA Pool/Getty
Google on Wednesday unveiled the most-searched people of the year.

Google narrowed down the top-trending people searches in the US over the past 12 months — names that had the highest spike in traffic this year compared to 2016.

The list includes actors like Gal Gadot, star of this year's smash hit "Wonder Woman," and Meghan Markle, an actress who recently announced her engagement to Prince Harry.

But it also includes men like Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, and Bill O'Reilly, celebrities who all experienced a career-ending fall from grace after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct.

9. Milo Yiannopoulos

REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative provocateur known for controversial political commentary, had a contentious year.

In February, protests erupted at UC Berkeley ahead of a speech Yiannopoulos was scheduled to deliver, causing the university to cancel the appearance. Soon after, an anonymous Twitter account posted video of Yiannopoulos appearing to condone sexual relationships between "younger boys and older men."

The aftermath resulted in Yiannopoulos resigning from his post as senior editor at Breitbart News and seeing his book deal canceled by publisher Simon & Schuster.

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8. Kathy Griffin

Rich Fury/Invision/AP

In May, comedian Kathy Griffin set the internet ablaze after a photo of her holding a gory, Donald Trump-like prop head surfaced online.

Griffin quickly apologized for the photo on social media, saying, "I went too far." But CNN announced shortly thereafter that Griffin would no longer cohost "New Year's Eve Live" alongside co-host Anderson Cooper. Toilet stool company Squatty Potty also dropped Griffin in the aftermath of the reactions to the image.

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7. Melania Trump

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Melania and Barron Trump moved into the White House in June after spending the first four months of Donald Trump's presidency in New York City.

6. Bill O'Reilly

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

In April, Fox News cut ties with primetime host Bill O'Reilly in light of a barrage of sexual-harassment allegations.

O'Reilly's departure came on the heels of an exodus of advertisers from his show's time slot. Earlier in April, The New York Times published an investigation that found that O'Reilly and Fox News had paid out $13 million to five women to settle sexual-harassment claims they had brought against him.

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5. Kevin Spacey

Evan Agostini/AP

In October, actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14. The allegations resulted in a number of other people coming forward to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct.

After eight people who worked on Netflix's "House of Cards" also accused Spacey of sexual harassment or assault in a CNN report, Spacey's agency and publicist dropped the actor.

Production on "House of Cards" was suspended indefinitely on October 31, and Spacey was fired from the show in November.

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4. Michael Flynn

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Michael Flynn, a decorated lieutenant general and counterterrorism strategist, served as national security adviser to President Donald Trump. He resigned in February after only 25 days in the position, largely due to revelations about his meeting with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

In December, Flynn pleaded guilty to charges filed against him by special counsel Robert Mueller in the ongoing Russia investigation.

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3. Harvey Weinstein

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Beginning in October, a wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein emerged through a series of investigations published by The New York Times and The New Yorker.

1. Matt Lauer

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In November, TV journalist Matt Lauer was fired from NBC as a result of "inappropriate sexual behavior."

NBC News' chairman Andy Lack issued a statement saying that he "received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer" and that the network had reason to believe it wasn't an isolated incident. Since Lauer's firing, more reports have surfaced of inappropriate behavior toward his colleagues.

Lauer had been a fixture on NBC since the early 1990s, traveling the world to report on a variety of subjects. He hosted "The Today Show" for two decades.